The present application is the U.S. National Phase of International Application No. PCT/GB9901857, International Application filing date Jun. 11, 1999, which was published in English on Dec. 23, 1999 as WO99/66029, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7 119 to United Kingdom applications GB 9812821.8, filed Jun. 12, 1998, and GB 9815404.0, filed Jul. 15, 1998.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel enzyme involved in the control of plant growth, DNA sequences coding for the enzyme and uses of the nucleotide sequence coding for the enzyme in the production of transgenic plants with improved or altered growth characteristics.
2. Related Art
The gibberellins (GAs) are a large group of diterpenoid carboxylic acids that are present in all higher plants and some fungi. Certain members of the group function as plant hormones and are involved in many developmental processes, including seed germination, stem extension, leaf expansion, flower initiation and development, and growth of the seeds and fruit. The biologically active GAs are usually C19 compounds containing a 19-10 lactone, a C-7 carboxylic acid and a 3xcex2-hydroxyl group. The later stages of their biosynthesis involve the oxidative removal of C-20 and hydroxylation at C-3. Hydroxylation at the 2xcex2 position results in the production of biologically inactive products. This reaction is the most important route for GA metabolism in plants and ensures that the active hormones do not accumulate in plant tissues. The GA biosynthetic enzymes 7-oxidase, 20-oxidase, 3xcex2-hydroxylase and 2xcex2-hydroxylase are all 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases. These are a large group of enzymes for which 2-oxoglutarate is a co-substrate that is decarboxylated to succinate as part of the reaction (see review by Hedden, P. and Kamiya, Y., in Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 48 431-460 (1997)).
Chemical regulators of plant growth have been used in horticulture and agriculture for many years. Many of these compounds function by changing the GA concentration in plant tissues. For example, growth retardants inhibit the activity of enzymes involved in GA biosynthesis and thereby reduce the GA content. Such chemicals are used commonly, for example, to prevent lodging in cereals and to control the growth of ornamental and horticultural plants. Conversely, GAs may be applied to plants, such as in the application of GA3 to seedless grapes to improve the size and shape of the berry, and to barley grain to improve malt production. Mixtures of GA4 and GA7 are applied to apples to improve fruit quality and to certain conifers to stimulate cone production. There are several problems associated with the use of growth regulators. Some of the growth retardants are highly persistent in the soil making it difficult to grow other crops following a treated crop. Others require repeated applications to maintain the required effect. It is difficult to restrict application to the target plant organs without it spreading to other organs or plants and having undesirable effects. Precise targeting of the growth-regulator application can be very labour intensive. A non-chemical option for controlling plant morphology is, thus, highly desirable.
Developing seeds often contain high concentrations of GAs and relatively large amounts of GA-biosynthetic enzymes. Mature seeds of runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) contain extremely high concentrations of the 2xcex2-hydroxy GA, GA8, as its glucoside, indicating that high levels of 2xcex2-hydroxylase activity must be present. This has been confirmed for the related species Phaseolus vulgaris in which there is a rapid increase in GA 2xcex2-hydroxylase activity shortly before seeds reach full maturity (Albone et al., Planta 177 108-115 (1989)). 2xcex2-Hydroxylases have been partially purified from the cotyledons of Pisum sativum (Smith, V. A. and MacMillan, J., Planta 167 9-18 (1983)) and Phaseolus vulgaris (Griggs et al Phytochemistry 30 2507-2512 (1991) and Smith, V. A. and MacMillan, J., J. Plant Growth Regul. 2 251-264 (1984)). These studies showed that there was evidence that, for both sources, at least two enzymes with different substrate specificities are present. Two activities from cotyledons of imbibed P. vulgaris were separable by cation-exchange chromatography and gel-filtration. The major activity, corresponding to an enzyme of Mr 26,000 by size exclusion HPLC, hydroxylated GA1 and GA4 in preference to GA9 and GA20, while GA9 was the preferred substrate for the second enzyme (Mr 42,000). However, attempts to purify the enzyme activity to obtain N-terminal information for amino acid sequencing have proved impossible because of the low abundance of the enzyme in the plant tissues relative to other proteins and the co-purification of a contaminating lectin with the enzyme activity rendering N-terminal amino acid sequencing impossible.
The regulation of gibberellin deactivation has been examined in Pisum sativum (garden pea) using the sln (slender) mutation as reported in Ross et al (The Plant Journal 7 (3) 513-523 (1995)). The sln mutation blocks the deactivation of GA20 which is the precursor of the bioactive GA1. The results of these studies indicated that the sln gene may be a regulatory gene controlling the expression of two separate structural genes involved in GA deactivation, namely the oxidation of GA20 to GA29 by 2xcex2-hydroxylation at C-2 followed by the further oxidation of the hydroxyl group to a ketone (GA29 to GA29-catabolite). The conversion of GA29 to GA29-catabolite in pea seeds was inhibited by prohexadione-calcium, an inhibitor of 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases (Nakayama et al Plant Cell Physiol. 31 1183-1190 (1990)), indicating that the reaction was catalysed by an enzyme of this type. Although the slender (sln) mutation in peas was found to block both the conversion of GA20 to GA29 and of GA29 to GA29-catabolite in seeds, the inability of unlabeled GA20 to inhibit oxidation of radiolabelled GA29, and vice versa, indicated that the steps were catalysed by separate enzymes. Furthermore, in shoot tissues, the slender mutation inhibits the 2xcex2-hydroxylation of GA20, but not the formation of GA29-catabolite. These observations lead to the theory that there were two separate enzymes involved in this metabolic pathway controlling the deactivation of GA in plants (Hedden, P. and Kamiya, Y., in Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 48 431460 (1997)).
However, it has now surprisingly been found that a single enzyme can, in fact, catabolise these different reactions. The present invention represents the first reported cloning of a cDNA encoding a GA 2xcex2-hydroxylase that acts on C19-GAs and for which 2xcex2-hydroxylation is its only hydroxylase activity. A cDNA clone from pumpkin seed encodes an enzyme that has both 2xcex2- and 3xcex2-hydroxylase activities (Lange et al. Plant Cell 9 1459-1467 (1997)), but its major activity is 3xcex2-hydroxylation and it acts as a 2xcex2-hydroxylase only with tricarboxylic acid (C20) substrates; it does not 2xcex2-hydroxylate C19-GAs. Since the new enzyme of the present invention catalyses both the xcex2-hydroxylation and further oxidation of the substituted hydroxyl group to a ketone group at C-2, the enzyme has been termed a xe2x80x9cGA 2-oxidasexe2x80x9d.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an isolated, purified or recombinant nucleic acid sequence encoding a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme comprising a nucleic acid sequence as shown in FIG. 1 or a functional derivative thereof, or its complementary strand or a homologous sequence thereto.
A system of nomenclature for the GA-biosynthesis genes has now been introduced (Coles et al The Plant Journal 17(5) 547-556 (1999). References in the present application to the gibberellin 2-oxidase gene of Phaseolus coccineus should be understood as also referring to PcGA2ox1. References in the present application to the gibberellin 2-oxidase genes of Arabidopsis thaliana as at-2bt3, at-2bt24 and T31E10.11 should be understood as also referring to AtGA2ox1, AtGA2ox2 and AtGA2ox3 respectively.
Nucleic acid sequences of the present invention which encode a gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA 2-oxidase) are 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that introduce a hydroxyl group at C-2xcex2 on GAs, particularly C19-GAs, including the bioactive GAs such as GA1 and GA4. They may also oxidise the 2xcex2-hydroxylated GAs further to give GA-catabolites, which have a ketone function at C-2. The lactone bridge of these catabolites may also be opened to produce a C-19 carboxylic acid and a double bond at C-10. The activity of the 2-oxidases results in inactivation of bioactive GAs or in the conversion of biosynthetic precursors of active GAs to products that cannot be converted to bioactive forms. A preferred nucleic acid sequence of the present invention therefore encodes a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme capable of oxidising C19-gibberellin compounds by introduction of a hydroxyl group at C-2xcex2. The enzyme may also oxidise the 2xcex2-hydroxyl group to a ketone group. Preferred substrates of gibberellin 2-oxidases of the present invention are GA9, GA4, GA20 and GA1.
In the context of the present invention, the degree of identity between amino acid sequences may be at least 40%, suitably 50% or higher, e.g. 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95%. At the nucleotide level, the degree of identity may be at least 50%, suitably 60% or higher, e.g. 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95%. A homologous sequence according to the present invention may therefore have a sequence identity as described above. Sequence homology may be determined using any conveniently available protocol, for example using Clustal X(trademark) from the University of Strasbourg and the tables of identities produced using Genedoc(trademark) (Karl B. Nicholas).
Also included within the scope of the present invention are nucleic acid sequences which hybridises to a sequence in accordance with the first aspect of the invention under stringent conditions, or a nucleic acid sequence which is homologous to or would hybridise under stringent conditions to such a sequence but for the degeneracy of the genetic code, or an oligonucleotide sequence specific for any such sequence.
Stringent conditions of hybridisation may be characterised by low salt concentrations or high temperature conditions. For example, highly stringent conditions can be defined as being hybridisation to DNA bound to a solid support in 0.5M NaHPO4, 7% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 1 mM EDTA at 65xc2x0 C., and washing in 0.1xc3x97SSC/0.1% SDS at 68xc2x0 C. (Ausubel et al eds. xe2x80x9cCurrent Protocols in Molecular Biologyxe2x80x9d 1, page 2.10.3, published by Green Publishing Associates, Inc. and John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, (1989)). In some circumstances less stringent conditions may be required. As used in the present application, moderately stringent conditions can be defined as comprising washing in 0.2xc3x97SSC/0.1% SDS at 42xc2x0 C. (Ausubel et al (1989) supra). Hybridisation can also be made more stringent by the addition of increasing amounts of formamide to destabilise the hybrid nucleic acid duplex. Thus particular hybridisation conditions can readily be manipulated, and will generally be selected according to the desired results. In general, convenient hybridisation temperatures in the presence of 50% formamide are 42xc2x0 C. for a probe which is 95 to 100% homologous to the target DNA, 37xc2x0 C. for 90 to 95% homology, and 32xc2x0 C. for 70 to 90% homology.
An example of a preferred nucleic acid sequence of the present invention is one which encodes an enzyme which has the activity of a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme of Phaseolus coccineus (for example PcGA2ox1) or an equivalent protein of another member of the Fabaceae family. A nucleic acid sequence of the present invention may also encode a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme from Phaseolus vulgaris or from Arabidopsis thaliana (for example AtGA2ox1, AtGA2ox2 or AtGAox3).
Other nucleic acid sequences in accordance with this aspect of the present invention may also comprise a nucleic acid sequence as previously defined in which the coding sequence is operatively linked to a promoter. The promoter may be constitutive and/or specific for expression in a particular plant cell or tissue, for example in roots using tobacco RB7 (Yamamoto et al Plant Cell 3 371-382 (1991)); in green tissues using tomato rbcS-3A (Ueda et al Plant Cell 1 217-227 (1989)); in dividing cells using maize histone H3 (Brignon et al Plant Mol. Biol. 22 1007-1015 (1993)), or Arabidopsis CYC07 (Ito et al Plant Mol. Biol. 24 863-878 (1994)); in vegetable meristem using Arabidopsis KNAT1 (Lincoln et al Plant Cell 6 1859-1876 (1994)); in vascular tissue using bean GRP1.8 (Keller, B., and Heierli, D., Plant Mol. Biol. 26 747-756 (1994)); in flower using Arabidopsis ACT11 (Huang et al Plant Mol. Biol. 33 125-139 (1997)) or petunia chalcone synthase (Vandermeer et al Plant Mol. Biol. 15 95-109 (1990)); in pistil using potato SK2 (Ficker et al Plant Mol. Biol. 35 425-431 (1997); in anther using Brassica TA29 (Deblock, M., and Debrouwer, D., Planta 189 218-225 (1993)); in fruit using tomato polygalacturonase (Bird et al Plant Mol. Biol. 11 651-662 (1988)). Alternative promoters may be derived from plant viruses, for example the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (CaMV). Suitable promoter sequences can include promoter sequences from plant species, for example from the family Brassicaceae.
The present invention therefore also extends to an isolated, purified or recombinant nucleic acid sequence comprising a promoter which naturally drives expression of a gene encoding a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme comprising a nucleic acid sequence as shown in FIG. 1 or a functional derivative thereof, or its complementary strand, or a sequence homologous thereto. The gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme may be of Phaseolus coccineus (for example PcGA2ox1) or an equivalent protein of another member of the Fabaceae family. Such nucleic acid sequences may also encode a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme from P. vulgaris or A. thaliana (for example AtGA2ox1, AtGA2ox2 or AtGA2ox3). Preferably, the nucleic acid sequence comprises a promoter which drives expression of a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme from P. coccineus, P. vulgaris or A. thaliana. Such promoter sequences include promoters which occur naturally 5xe2x80x2 to the coding sequence of the sequence shown in FIG. 1. Promoters may also be selected to constitutively overexpress the nucleic acid coding for the gibberellin 2-oxidase gene. Promoters that are induced by internal or external factors, such as chemicals, plant hormones, light or stress could be used. Examples are the pathogenesis related genes inducible by salicylic acid, copper-controllable gene expression (Mett et al Proc. Nat""l. Acad. Sci. USA 90 4567-4571 (1993)) and tetracycline-regulated gene expression (Gatz et al Plant Journal 2 397-404 (1992)). Examples of gibberellin-inducible genes are xcex3-TIP (Phillips, A. L., and Huttly, A. K., Plant Mol. Biol. 24 603-615 (1994)) and GAST (Jacobsen, S. E., and Olszewski, N. E., Planta 198 78-86 (1996)). Gibberellin 20-oxidase genes are down-regulated by GA (Phillips et al Plant Physiol. 108 1049-1057. (1995)) and their promoter coupled to the GA 2-oxidase ORF may also find application in this aspect of the invention.
Gibberellin 2-oxidase enzymes coded for by nucleic acid sequences of the present invention may suitably act to catalyse the 2xcex2-oxidation of a C19-gibberellin molecule to introduce a hydroxyl group at C-2 followed by further oxidation to yield the ketone derivative.
The nucleic acid sequences of the present invention may also code for RNA which is antisense to the RNA normally found in a plant cell or may code for RNA which is capable of cleavage of RNA normally found in a plant cell. Accordingly, the present invention also provides a nucleic acid sequence encoding a ribozyme capable of specific cleavage of RNA encoded by a gibberellin 2-oxidase gene. Such ribozyme-encoding DNA would generally be useful in inhibiting the deactivation of gibberellins, particularly C19-GAs.
Nucleic acid sequences in accordance with the present invention may further comprise 5xe2x80x2 signal sequences to direct expression of the expressed protein product. Such signal sequences may also include protein targeting sequences which can direct an expressed protein to a particular location inside or outside of a host cell expressing such a nucleic acid sequence. Alternatively, the nucleic acid sequence may also comprise a 3xe2x80x2 signal such as a polyadenylation signal or other regulatory signal.
The present invention therefore offers significant advantages to agriculture in the provision of nucleic acid sequences to regulate the metabolism of the gibberellin plant hormones. The regulation could be to either inhibit plant growth by promoting the action of gibberellin 2-oxidase or to promote plant growth by preventing the deactivation of gibberellin by gibberellin 2-oxidase. For example, in 1997, there was lodging in about 15% of the wheat and 30% of the barley crop in the UK with an estimated cost to the growers of £100 m. The availability of lodging-resistant cereals with shorter, stronger stems as a result of reduced GA content could be of considerable financial benefit.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an antisense nucleic acid sequence which includes a transcribable strand of DNA complementary to at least part of the strand of DNA that is naturally transcribed in a gene encoding a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme, such as the gibberellin 2-oxidase enzymes from P. coccineus, P. vulgaris or A. thaliana. Preferred genes according to the present invention include PcGA2ox1, AtGA2ox1, AtGA2Ox2 and AtGA2Ox3.
The antisense nucleic acid and ribozyme-encoding nucleic acid described above are examples of a more general principle: according to a further aspect of the invention there is provided DNA which causes (for example by its expression) selective disruption of the proper expression of gibberellin 2-oxidase genes, or in preferred embodiments the P. coccineus gene PcGA2ox1.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an isolated, purified or recombinant polypeptide comprising a gibberellin 2-oxidase enzyme having the amino acid sequence as shown in FIG. 2.
Recombinant DNA in accordance with the invention may be in the form of a vector. The vector may for example be a plasmid, cosmid, phage or artificial chromosome. Vectors will frequently include one or more selectable markers to enable selection of cells transfected (or transformed: the terms are used interchangeably in this specification) with them and, preferably, to enable selection of cells harbouring vectors incorporating heterologous DNA. Appropriate xe2x80x9cstartxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cstopxe2x80x9d signals will generally be present. Additionally, if the vector is intended for expression, sufficient regulatory sequences to drive expression will be present; however, DNA in accordance with the invention will generally be expressed in plant cells, and so microbial host expression would not be among the primary objectives of the invention, although it is not ruled out (such as for example in bacterial or yeast host cells). Vectors not including regulatory sequences are useful as cloning vectors.
Cloning vectors can be introduced into E. coli or another suitable host which facilitates their manipulation. According to another aspect of the invention, there is therefore provided a host cell transfected or transformed with a nucleic acid sequence as described above. A further embodiment of the invention is the provision of enzymes by expression of GA 2-oxidase cDNAs in heterologous hosts, such as Escherichia coli, yeasts including strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or insect cells infected with a baculovirus containing recombinant DNA. The enzymes could be used for the production of 2xcex2-hydroxylated GAs and GA-catabolites or for the preparation of antibodies raised against GA 2-oxidases. The host cell may also suitably be a plant cell in plant cell culture or as part of a callus.
Nucleic acid sequences in accordance with this invention may be prepared by any convenient method involving coupling together successive nucleotides, and/or ligating oligo- and/or poly-nucleotides, including cell-free in vitro processes, but recombinant DNA technology forms the method of choice.
Ultimately, nucleic acid sequences in accordance with the present invention will be introduced into plant cells by any suitable means. According to a still further aspect of the invention, there is provided a plant cell including a nucleic acid sequence in accordance with the invention as described above.
Preferably, nucleic acid sequences of the present invention are introduced into plant cells by transformation using the binary vector pLARS120, a modified version of pGPTV-Kan (Becker et al Plant Mol. Biol. 20 1195-1197 (1992)) in which the xcex2-glucuronidase reporter gene is replaced by the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter from pBI220 (Jefferson, R. A., Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 5 387405 (1987)). Such plasmids may be then introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens by electroporation and can then be transferred into the host cell via a vacuum filtration procedure. Alternatively, transformation may be achieved using a disarmed Ti-plasmid vector and carried by Agrobacterium by procedures known in the art, for example as described in EP-A-0116718 and EP-A-0270822. Where Agrobacterium is ineffective, the foreign DNA could be introduced directly into plant cells using an electrical discharge apparatus alone, such as for example in the transformation of monocotyledonous plants. Any other method that provides for the stable incorporation of the nucleic acid sequence within the nuclear DNA or mitochondrial DNA of any plant cell would also be suitable. This includes species of plant which are not yet capable of genetic transformation.
Preferably, nucleic acid sequences in accordance with the invention for introduction into host cells also contain a second chimeric gene (or xe2x80x9cmarkerxe2x80x9d gene) that enables a transformed plant containing the foreign DNA to be easily distinguished from other plants that do not contain the foreign DNA. Examples of such a marker gene include antibiotic resistance (Herrera-Estrella et al EMBO J. 2 987-995 (1983)), herbicide resistance (EP-A-0242246) and glucuronidase (GUS) expression (EP-A-0344029). Expression of the marker gene is preferably controlled by a second promoter which allows expression in cells at all stages of development so that the presence of the marker gene can be determined at all stages of regeneration of the plant.
A whole plant can be regenerated from a single transformed plant cell, and the invention therefore provides transgenic plants (or parts of them, such as propagating material, i.e. protoplasts, cells, calli, tissues, organs, seeds, embryos, ovules, zygotes, tubers, roots, etc.) including nucleic acid sequences in accordance with the invention as described above. In the context of the present invention, it should be noted that the term xe2x80x9ctransgenicxe2x80x9d should not be taken to be limited in referring to an organism as defined above containing in their germ line one or more genes from another species, although many such organisms will contain such a gene or genes. Rather, the term refers more broadly to any organism whose germ line has been the subject of technical intervention by recombinant DNA technology. So, for example, an organism in whose germ line an endogenous gene has been deleted, duplicated, activated or modified is a transgenic organism for the purposes of this invention as much as an organism to whose germ line an exogenous DNA sequence has been added.
Preferred species of plants include but are not limited to monocotyledonous plants including seed and the progeny or propagules thereof, for example Lolium, Zea, Triticum, Sorghum, Triticale, Saccharun, Bromus, Oryzae, Avena, Hordeum, Secale and Setaria. Especially useful transgenic plants are maize, wheat, barley plants and seed thereof. Dicotyledenous plants are also within the scope of the present invention and preferred transgenic plants include but are not limited to the species Fabaceae, Solanum, Brassicaceae, especially potatoes, beans, cabbages, forest trees, roses, clematis, oilseed rape, sunflower, chrysanthemum, poinsettia and antirrhinum (snapdragon).
Screening of plant cells, tissue and plants for the presence of specific DNA sequences may be performed by Southern analysis as described in Sambrook et al (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second edition (1989)). This screening may also be performed using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) by techniques well known in the art.
Transformation of plant cells includes separating transformed cells from those that have not been transformed. One convenient method for such separation or selection is to incorporate into the material to be inserted into the transformed cell a gene for a selection marker. As a result only those cells which have been successfully transformed will contain the marker gene. The translation product of the marker gene will then confer a phenotypic trait that will make selection possible. Usually, the phenotypic trait is the ability to survive in the presence of some chemical agent, such as an antibiotic, e.g. kanamycin, G418, paromomycin, etc, which is placed in a selection media. Some examples of genes that confer antibiotic resistance, include for example, those coding for neomycin phosphotransferase kanamycin resistance (Velten et al EMBO J. 3 2723-2730 (1984)), hygromycin resistance (van den Elzen et al Plant Mol. Biol. 5 299-392 (1985)), the kanamycin resistance (NPT II) gene derived from Tn5 (Bevan et al Nature 304 184-187 (1983); McBride et al Plant Mol. Biol. 14 (1990)) and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. The PAT gene described in Thompson et al (EMBO J. 6 2519-2523 (1987)) may be used to confer herbicide resistance.
An example of a gene useful primarily as a screenable marker in tissue culture for identification of plant cells containing genetically engineered vectors is a gene that encodes an enzyme producing a chromogenic product. One example is the gene coding for production of xcex2-glucuronidase (GUS). This enzyme is widely used and its preparation and use is described in Jefferson (Plant Mol. Biol. Reporter 5 387-405 (1987)).
Once the transformed plant cells have been cultured on the selection media, surviving cells are selected for further study and manipulation. Selection methods and materials are well known to those of skill in the art, allowing one to choose surviving cells with a high degree of predictability that the chosen cells will have been successfully transformed with exogenous DNA.
After transformation of the plant cell or plant using, for example, the Agrobacterium Ti-plasmid, those plant cells or plants transformed by the Ti-plasmid so that the enzyme is expressed, can be selected by an appropriate phenotypic marker. These phenotypic markers include, but are not limited to, antibiotic resistance. Other phenotypic markers are known in the art and may be used in this invention.
Positive clones are regenerated following procedures well-known in the art. Subsequently transformed plants are evaluated for the presence of the desired properties and/or the extent to which the desired properties are expressed. A first evaluation may include, for example, the level of bacterial/fungal resistance of the transformed plants, stable heritability of the desired properties, field trials and the like.
By way of illustration and summary, the following scheme sets out a typical process by which transgenic plant material, including whole plants, may be prepared. The process can be regarded as involving five steps:
(1) first isolating from a suitable source or synthesising by means of known processes a DNA sequence encoding a protein exhibiting GA 2-oxidase activity;
(2) operably linking the said DNA sequence in a 5xe2x80x2 to 3xe2x80x2 direction to plant expression sequences as defined hereinbefore;
(3) transforming the construct of step (2) into plant material by means of known processes and expressing it therein;
(4) screening of the plant material treated according to step (3) for the presence of a DNA sequence encoding a protein exhibiting gibberellin 2-oxidase activity: and
(5) optionally regenerating the plant material transformed according to step (3) to a whole plant.
The present invention thus also comprises transgenic plants and the sexual and/or asexual progeny thereof, which have been transformed with a recombinant DNA sequence according to the invention. The regeneration of the plant can proceed by any known convenient method from suitable propagating material either prepared as described above or derived from such material.
The expression xe2x80x9casexual or sexual progeny of transgenic plantsxe2x80x9d includes by definition according to the invention all mutants and variants obtainable by means of known process, such as for example cell fusion or mutant selection and which still exhibit the characteristic properties of the initial transformed plant, together with all crossing and fusion products of the transformed plant material.
Another object of the invention concerns the proliferation material of transgenic plants. The proliferation material of transgenic plants is defined relative to the invention as any plant material that may be propagated sexually in vivo or in vitro. Particularly preferred within the scope of the present invention are protoplasts, cells, calli, tissues, organs, seeds, embryos, egg cells, zygotes, together with any other propagating material obtained from transgenic plants.
A further aspect of the invention is the provision of an antibody raised against at least a part of the amino acid sequence of gibberellin 2-oxidase. Such antibody is useful in screening a cDNA library in suitable vectors derived from the plant tissue RNA.
The gibberellin 2-oxidase gene according to the invention is useful in the modification of growth and developmental processes in transgenic plants. Another important aspect of the present invention is therefore its use in the preparation of transgenic plants or seeds in which the gibbereuin 2-oxidase is constitutively overexpressed to reduce the concentration of bioactive gibberellins (GAs) in the plants or seeds. Preferred gibberellin 2-oxidase genes include PcGA2ox1, AtGA2ox1, AtGA2ox2 and AtGA2Ox3. Such transgenic plants overexpressing the GA 2-oxidase would resemble plants that had been treated with growth retardants. The invention could therefore be used to reduce vegetative growth as in, for example, the prevention of lodging in cereals, including rice, and the improvement in grain yield, the prevention of lodging in oilseed rape and the improvement of canopy structure, the improvement in seedling quality for transplantation, the reduction in growth of amenity grasses, the reduction in shoot growth in orchard and ornamental trees, the production of ornamental plants with more compact growth habit, the improvement in tolerance to cold, draught and infection, the increase in yields by diversion of assimilates from vegetative to reproductive organs, the prevention of bolting in rosette plants, such as sugar beet, lettuce, brassicas and spinach. The invention may also be used to induce male and/or female sterility by expression in floral organs, to prevent pre-harvest sprouting in cereals, to reduce shoot growth in hedging plants, to inhibit reversibly the development or germination of seeds and to reduce shoot growth of commercial wood species.
Overexpression of the nucleic acid sequences encoding gibberellin 2-oxidase may be achieved using DNA constructs comprising constitutive promoters and nucleic acid coding sequences in transgenic plants prepared by recombinant DNA technology. Alternatively, the overexpression may be achieved using the technique of homologous recombination to insert into the nucleus of a cell a constitutive promoter upstream of a normally silent copy of the nucleic acid sequence of the present invention.
The present invention also provides in an additional aspect the use of a nucleic acid sequence as previously defined in the preparation of transgenic plants and/or seeds in which expression of endogenous GA 2-oxidase genes in transgenic plants is reduced (i.e. silenced), by, for example, the expression of antisense copies of the endogenous GA 2-oxidase DNA sequences, the expression of truncated sense copies of the endogenous gene (co-suppression) or the use of synthetic ribozymes targeted to the endogenous transcripts. Preferred gibberellin 2-oxidase genes according to this aspect of the invention include PcGA2ox1, AtGA2ox1, AtGA2ox2 and AtGA20x3.
This would result in plants with reduced turnover, and hence increased concentrations, of bioactive GAs. In this form, the invention could be used, for example, to improve fruit set and growth in seedless grapes, citrus and pear, improve skin texture and fruit shape in apple, increase stem length and therefore yield in sugar cane, increase yield and earliness in celery and rhubarb, improve malting yields and quality in cereals, particularly barley. It could also be used to increase growth in woody species.
Preferred features of the second and subsequent aspects of the invention are as for the first aspect mutatis mutandis.